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Advent, Christmas and Epiphany 2020 - 2021

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Advent, Christmas and Epiphany 2020 - 2021 Advent, Christmas and Epiphany 2020 - 2021 Short thoughts for every day from the beginning of Advent to the Epiphany Introduction The season of Advent begins in the darkened days of late November, several weeks before Christmas. Advent is part of the Christian Year, a season of sustained focus on particular aspects of spiritual formation. It is a season that points beyond itself—to Christmas and the joy it promises. Advent can seem a little strange to those unfamiliar with its traditions, themes, and prayers. Is it merely a historical exercise to pray the prayers of ancient Israel as they longed for the birth of their Saviour? Jesus has already come, hasn’t he? Most of us like Christmas; after all, it’s kind of like an extended birthday party for Jesus where we get the presents. But why spend weeks “anticipating” the birth of someone who’s already been born? The answer to this question draws us into the central purpose of Advent and the kind of spiritual formation we undergo when we celebrate it. At the core of Advent’s purpose is the discipline of patient, watchful anticipation. In the season of Advent, we train ourselves for watching and waiting. Most of us these days are pretty lousy at waiting. We live in a world whose entire modern economy is based on shrinking the space between feeling a desire and satisfying it. We expect our food to come quickly, the weekends can’t get here fast enough, we binge watch entire seasons of TV shows in a few nights, and even a few seconds of delay can cause us to abandon a web search in disgust. We want what we want and we want it now! Even when our desires are good and holy, we are impatient for their satisfaction. We look around at our world and can clearly see its brokenness. Whether we look inside ourselves, at the lives of our family, friends, and neighbors, or at what’s happening in the wider world, we see the truth of Paul’s words: “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” (Romans 8) The world is not right. This world is not as it should be. God himself has told us that this is so, and very long ago he began working to do something about it. He has been at work, and is still at work—but that work is not yet finished. There is nothing we can do to speed it along, it will come in the time and measure chosen by God. We wait. Waiting may seem like doing nothing, but a moment’s reflection reveals that waiting is actually hard work. We groan, aching for what we need to finally come to pass. And waiting for God to finish his work is a little like pregnancy: there is preparation to do, but most of the work doesn’t come from us; we must simply wait, and the expectation and eager need make the waiting feel like a kind of work, an active, watchful , restrained patience. This waiting is fruitful. It enlarges our capacity to receive and enter the joy of Christmas. It right-sizes our perspective on our own efforts toward sanctification as we walk with God and submit to his rule. It widens our ability to experience joy even while we patiently endure trials, knowing that the day is surely coming when we will pass beyond the trial. It opens our eyes to see God’s promises fulfilled in ways we might miss were it not for a new alertness borne of the Holy Spirit, borne of waiting. This is the season of Advent. This season, will you watch and wait with us for the glory of God to be revealed? Sunday 29th November The season of Advent means there is something on the horizon Advent 1 the likes of which we have never seen before. So stay. Sit. Linger. Tarry. Ponder. Wait. Behold. Wonder. There will be time enough for running. For rushing. For pushing. For now, stay. Wait. Something is on the horizon. (Jan Richardson) The Church set aside this four week pre-Christmas season as a time of spiritual preparation for Christ’s coming. It is a time of quiet anticipation. If Christ is going to come again into our hearts, there must be repentance. Without repentance, our hearts will be so full of worldly things that there will be ‘no room in the inn’ for Christ to be born again – John R. Brokhoff Monday 30th November If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus. St Andrew If you want to know what it means to be human, look at Jesus If you want to know what love is, look at Jesus. If you want to know what grief is, look at Jesus. And go on looking until you’re not just ba spectator, but you’re actually part of the drama which has him as the central character – Bishop N. T. Wright Tuesday 1st December Everything that is worthwhile must be waited for. (Carlo Carretto) Wednesday 2nd December Advent: the time to listen for footsteps. You can’t hear footsteps when you’re running yourself. (Bill McKibben) Thursday 3rd December At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving others with God’s own love and concern. (St. Mother Teresa) Friday 4th December. Advent is the time of promise; it is not yet the time of fulfillment. We are still in the midst of everything and in the logical inexorability and relentlessness of destiny.…Space is still filled with the noise of destruction and annihilation, the shouts of self-assurance and arrogance, the weeping of despair and helplessness. But round about the horizon the eternal realities stand silent in their age-old longing. There shines on them already the first mild light of the radiant fulfillment to come. From afar sound the first notes as of pipes and voices, not yet discernable as a song or melody. It is all far off still, and only just announced and foretold. But it is happening, today.” ― Alfred Delp, Advent of the Heart: Seasonal Sermons And Prison Writings 1941-1944 Saturday 5th December One of the essential paradoxes of Advent: that while we wait for God, we are with God all along ,that while we need to be reassured of God’s arrival, or the arrival of our homecoming, we are already at home. While we wait, we have to trust, to have faith, but it is God’s grace that gives us that faith. As with all spiritual knowledge, two things are true, and equally true, at once. The mind can’t grasp paradox; it is the knowledge of the soul.” ― Michelle Blake Sunday 6th December Advent proclaims our confidence that “God comes!” Carlo Advent 2 Carretto, a contemporary desert hermit, reflects on the verb tense of this phrase saying, It is not used in the past tense—God has come, nor in the future tense—God will come, but in the present tense—‘God comes.’ This is a continuous present, an ever-continuous action: it happened, it is happening now and it will happen again. At every moment, ‘God comes.’ It is a theological verb that proclaims one of God’s essential and qualifying features: that He is the “God-who-comes.” Monday 7th December The Lord is coming, always coming. When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment in your life Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord – Henri J. M. Nouwen Tuesday 8th December Advent is the season that can remind us God is working while we’re waiting and we’re really waiting with God. Wednesday 9th December Advent increases our hope, a hope which does not disappoint. The Lord never lets us down – Pope Francis Thursday 10th December Waiting is a period of learning. The longer we wait, the more we hear about him for whom we are waiting – henri J. M. Nouwen Friday 11th December Waiting is a hard discipline in this hurry culture. We want things to happen on our timetables and when they don't, we get upset, depressed, or angry. It is difficult to wait when our consumer culture brainwashes us daily into the ideal of instant gratification; anything that takes too long isn't worth getting. The season beckons us to an active kind of waiting that opens our hearts and paves the way for the wonder and peace of Christmas. Saturday 12th December The spiritual practice of patience is another virtue which goes against the grain of how we live most days. God, in our view, has a wonderful sense of humour. Since most of us haven't gotten the point of patience, we are given plenty of opportunities to practice it! This is an ideal time of the year to be more patient with our loved ones, those we work with, and the general public. In each instance, we can realize that there is no way to push the river or hasten the harvest. Little by little, we can attune ourselves to the slow work of God. Sunday 13th December Hope is an aspect of Advent that demands our attention and Advent 3 allegiance. It is a spiritual practice that is really needed as the days get shorter, the nights get longer, and the year comes to its conclusion. Hope is an orientation of the heart, a renewable energy source that comes from the grace of God.
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